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East Side Resiliency Plan Faces Key Hearing
City Limits by Jarrett Murphy	- 6h ago
NYC Planning
A map of the proposed East Side Coastal Resiliency Project
The de Blasio administration has a plan to shore up the Lower East Side's defenses against rising seawaters. It will also rebuild the largest park in Lower Manhattan. There will be 40 acres of greenspace. The park will have eight baseball fields, three soccer fields and a running track. There will be a multipurpose field, four-and-a-half basketball courts and 12 tennis courts, according to the project's website.
So what's not to like? Both of the community boards in whose districts the project falls have approved it, but conditioned their "yes" votes on extensive lists of conditions.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders are upset that, with little warning or explanation, last year the de Blasio administration ripped up a different plan for the same space that it developed in concert with the community over a four-year period.
And while the new plan offers a faster building timeline, it requires the total closure of a key park in a part of the city starved for open space – and some in the neighborhood are skeptical that the shutdown will expedite the project as the city claims.
A hearing on the East Side project is scheduled for Wednesday evening.
Two miles of coastline
The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project is an initiative of coastal protection funded by New York City and the federal government. The project aims to reduce flooding from coastal storms and the rise of sea level on the East Side. This protection stretches from Montgomery Street to East 25thStreet, that is 2.4 miles of coastline protection.
ESCR is led by the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency. There are other departments working in this project such as the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of City Planning (DCP), and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). The city hired AKRF, a consultant team that has experts on waterfront and coastal engineering, stormwater management, and landscape architecture.
The project was a priority in Mayor de Blasio's One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just City and in Rebuild by Design, a competition that was sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Obama administration. HUD is supplying $338 million to the project via its Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery fund. On top of that, the city allocated some of its own money to cover the current plan's total cost of $1.45 billion. The original plan cost $760 million.
A community plan, and then a change
It was an accomplishment when the community of the Lower East Side and the city agreed on a plan for resiliency. The effort took around four years.
In the original plan, the city was going to build multiple berms, floodgates or a small shelf of land next to the FDR Drive. The purpose of this would have left the East River Park as a sponge when a major storm hits. Then park would've taken the hit instead of the nearby homes.
On September 28, 2018, however, the de Blasio administration issued a press release announcing it was pursuing a new plan for some of the East Side Resiliency Project. Some of the community plan survive intact. But about 70 percent of it changed.
According to a spokesperson for the Mayor's Office of Resiliency, under the original design, "the flood barrier was to be constructed on the inland side of the East River Park, adjacent to the FDR drive." It would've taken the form of a wall around 8 or 9 feet. It would've been landscaped to look like a hill from the park.
But with the revised design, the who East River Park will be elevated 8 feet. It will move the flood barrier to the water's edge. The spokesperson went on the say that there will not be any changes in the number of softball, soccer and multipurpose turf fields. The city's main reason for making the change was because they wanted to accelerate the construction process and have less traffic disruption.
Construction is set to begin in spring 2020 and will be finished by the summer of 2023.
The revised plan will also, the administration says, permit a better connection to East River Park for members of the community. The plan will permit building a Flyover Bridge for the East River Greenway.
Other elements of the plan include a potential ferry landing, kayaking amenities and cultural facilities in order to create a more vibrant neighborhood.
Boards approve, with conditions
The northern part of the project is in Community Board 6, which approved the ESCR project with 43 votes in favor on June 12. Molly Hollister, the chair of Board 6, has said the community received the plan well. Still, the board did apply some conditions to its approval. Some concerned the need for noise and dust mitigation around the construction site. Another tasked the Department of Transportation with developing a plan to address the narrowed lanes by East 20thstreet that will allow passing along the street once construction begins.
The southern part of the project, which encompasses East River Park, falls in Community Board 3. The board approved the project with 33 in favor and 2 against it on June 2019.
Just as with Community Board 6, Board 3 approved the project but had a laundry list of conditions. Some of the conditions were for the city to provide details on open space mitigation and to have specifics on a timeline for alternative recreation options. The board also wants the plan to take into account what sea levels will be in 2100, not just the current target date of 2050. The board also wants the city to agree to update its members on construction, hold community meetings like town halls, and create a Community Advisory Group made up of community and institutional stakeholders. (The full set of conditions can be found here; it is item 6 at the end of page 7.)
Wednesday's hearing is likely to witness substantial skepticism about how the revised plan will impact the park.
Worries about the timeline
Charles Krezell, the co-founder and president of LUNGS (Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens), was in disbelief last fall when he heard about the city's new plan. "No one was prepared for it," he says.
He is unsure that this project can be completed in just three years and worried that it will stretch beyond the current terms of elected officials who will approve it, diffusing accountability. "No one else [in city office now] is going to be in office at that point, so it's going to be very difficult, the city can walk away, the city can run out of money, anything can happen," he says. "We can have a flood tomorrow, there's no barrier to protect us from anything."
Even though both community boards endorsed the plan, Krezell vows to contest the project. "This battle is not over, I think there are still people organizing and we're struggling to push the city as much as we can," he says. "I'm sorry we have to spend all our energy in trying to get the city to do the right thing to protect this community," he says. "But the community is not going to lay down and let them walk over us."
There are specific concerns about the Lower East Side Ecology Center, an organization that provides composting and e-waste services to New Yorkers and is located in the park. The city has not recognized or addressed the future of the center, and it is unclear what will happen once construction begins. Christine Datz-Romero, who is the co-founder and executive director of the center, says she was in disbelief when she found out the change of plans. "The entire community is still trying to understand why this decision was made to really change the plan so radically," she says.
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Romero says that city has not provided a reason for why the center was not included. The Parks Department is helping in finding a temporary home during construction, but as of right now, nothing has been finalized. Romero says that the department is finding an alternative space for their education program, but the center would prefer to stay in the Lower East Side. The department is also looking for space for their composting program. "We're making progress, we want to stay here in the Lower East Side because that's really the community we've been serving and have that have ties for decades now."
A major demand from organizations calls for phased construction, but the city has not provided a clear answer as to whether it will embrace this option. Phased construction would close down sections of the park instead of the whole thing, so at least parts of it could be used while construction takes place.
According to the DDC, they are looking for ways on how to implement phased construction as it is something the community wants. The idea is brought up constantly during meetings with the community.
"Sometimes in the darkest moments, they're not making any firm commitments and I feel very anxious about that fact," Romero says. "I fear that they're just pacifying people right now by acknowledging that they have heard the concerns and they're looking into it but not making some commitment."
Emily Curtis-Murphy, the park manager for SolarOne and a member of the East River Alliance, says that the community is not against a plan for resiliency but they want the city to be transparent with their plans and have the voices of the community heard.
"I don't think that anyone in the East River Alliance is opposed to the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project overall," she says. "We just have a lot of questions about the new approach."
The post East Side Resiliency Plan Faces Key Hearing appeared first on City Limits.
Opinion: Avoid Another Amazon by Learning from Essex Crossing
NYCEDC
A model of the Essex Crossing project
Amazon's decision to withdraw its plans to build a second headquarters in Long Island City sparked dire predictions from many observers. Some argued it would now be impossible to attract significant commercial development in Western Queens, or that businesses would be discouraged from moving anywhere in the five boroughs. Many of us in the real estate community wondered if this signalled an end to the pro-growth political climate that helped drive the city's incredible economic recovery over the past four decades.
Six months later, it now seems clear that these concerns were overblown. Amazon itself is reportedly looking to take more space in midtown Manhattan. And the City of New York has already been engaging community stakeholders around a new vision for the Long Island City site.
Treating the Amazon HQ2 project as a proxy for all new development was an error in judgement. Amazon's nationwide competition and the media frenzy that followed put the focus on what New York City had offered to do for Amazon, rather than what this project would ultimately deliver for New Yorkers. Amazon failed to secure meaningful community input or community buy-in. James Patchett, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, who led Amazon negotiations on behalf of the City, has noted that Amazon "never hired a single New Yorker to work for them, to talk to New Yorkers, and never really connected with people in the city."
But the City of New York and the real-estate industry know how to develop ambitious projects hand in hand with communities in ways that ensure both local needs and citywide goals are being met. To see an example, simply look to the Lower East Side, where lots that sat vacant for decades have been transformed by a community-centric process into Essex Crossing.
Essex Crossing began when the local community board established guidelines for what was then known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. Between 2009 and 2010, a committee led by experts from the Pratt Institute held a series of meetings with representatives of the many constituencies that would be impacted by any new development.
Their plan – the Seward Park Mixed-Use Development Project – called for preserving the neighborhood's character through contextual design, while producing mixed-income housing, cultural amenities, and retail space. That plan ultimately informed the City's public bidding process and led to the selection of the Essex Crossing development team, Delancey Street Associates LLC, a joint venture of L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners, and Taconic Investment Partners.
Ten years later, long-vacant lots have been replaced by a group of buildings that are distinct yet cohesive in their design, fitting seamlessly into the surrounding neighborhood. There are amenities that serve long-time residents, like a much-needed supermarket, while 500 permanently affordable apartments will help make sure that the Lower East Side remains accessible for new generations of New Yorkers.
The centerpiece of that development – a new and improved home for the historic Essex Street Market – officially opened to the public just a few months ago. The New Essex Market is an example of what makes the project as a whole so special: protecting longstanding vendors reflecting the neighborhood's history and expanding opportunities for innovative food startups looking to the future.
These are just some of the reasons that our organization, the Urban Land Use Institute New York, selected Essex Crossing for an Excellence in Mixed-Use Development Award earlier this year. But this project is far from the only evidence that inclusive, community-driven planning is alive and well in our city.
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Within the last few years, neighborhoods from Hunts Point to Far Rockaway have come together to develop comprehensive visions for growth and have invited investment from both the public and private sectors, resulting in further sustainable development, additional job opportunities, and more affordable housing in the region The same can and must be done in Long Island City.
It will require our government officials, community stakeholders, and the development community to work collaboratively to develop a shared vision for the future of Long Island City. But the advocates and elected officials who opposed the Amazon project have a responsibility here as well, and an opportunity to prove that being anti-Amazon doesn't mean being anti-development.
These individuals must come to the table and work collaboratively, embracing the type of development approach we have seen succeed at Essex Crossing: development that serves the needs of both current and future residents and that protects neighborhood character, but recognizes that no neighborhood exists as an island and that the future of our city depends on smart and sustainable growth.
If we can come together in this way, history will remember Amazon's departure as an anomaly rather than as the shape of things to come.
Felix Ciampa is the Executive Director at Urban Land Institute New York.
The post Opinion: Avoid Another Amazon by Learning from Essex Crossing appeared first on City Limits.
10 NYCHA Senior Centers to Remain Open
City Limits by Harry Diprinzio	- 8h ago
Harry DiPrinzio
Inside the Frederick Douglass Senior Center.
The City Council's 2020 budget allocated $2.1 million in funding for 10 senior centers at New York City Housing Authority developments that were set to close at the beginning of July. The operations of the centers will be transferred to the Department for the Aging.
The centers were targeted for closure because of low participation and a need for budget cuts but seniors at many facilities rallied for support.
The stated plan was to provide busing to nearby facilities.
At the Frederick Douglas Senior Center on West 102nd Street, seniors had organized a petition and a letter calling on the city to maintain funding. Elected officials including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Assemblymember Daniel O'Donnell also voiced opposition to the centers' closing.
Seniors at the Bland, King and Astoria houses were also vocal about opposition to the closure.
Centers to remain open: Operator:
Armstrong Wayside Tompkins Park
Shelton JSPOA
Douglass West Side Federation
King Towers Presbyterian
Palmetto Gardens Riseboro Community
Langston Hughes NYCHA
Astoria NYCHA
Sumner NYCHA
Bland NYCHA
Lincoln NYCHA
The two centers that were slated for closure but did not have funding restored are Baisley Park and Taft.
"The Council worked very hard to advocate for our seniors in this year's budget and we are proud of the result," a spokesperson for the Council said.
"The seniors are ecstatic. They are happy," said Basilia Silverio, assistant director of the Douglas center. "I am happy. Imagine losing your job. It's not an easy situation."
"Ensuring that seniors have access to quality social opportunities is a measure of who we are as a society," said Paul Freitag, executive director of the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, the organization that operates the Douglas center.
The Douglas center has persistent leak from the ceiling. According to Freitag, repairs by NYCHA are in progress.
As for future funding, discussions will be ongoing, the Council spokesperson said.
The post 10 NYCHA Senior Centers to Remain Open appeared first on City Limits.
Opinion: NYC Needs to Think Bigger—and Better—About Improving Infrastructure
City Limits by Jarrett Murphy	- 2d ago
Famartin
'Although it can be difficult to think big, when New Yorkers provide input as a collective, we can bring about a better, more thoughtfully formed infrastructure system.'
While many bemoan the state of the MTA, debate the future of the BQE, and question the role that congestion pricing can play in our city's future, few have considered what it would mean to take a high-level approach to tackling New York City's infrastructure problems. Over the past four years, we, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), have worked to create an Infrastructure Management Standard—one that can comprehensively address the infrastructure issues plaguing our city. The keys to this standard, and the changes it could bring about, are threefold: big yet detailed thinking, a transparent and accountable process focused on the community, and a sustainable source of equitably distributed wealth.
To effectively handle the challenges we face, we need to first consider infrastructure at the highest level and understand how various malfunctioning systems are interconnected. We might say that infrastructure operates in clusters. The MTA is intertwined with NJ Transit and LIRR, the ferry system, and the private bus lines that service the greater metropolitan area. All of these services are dependent on the conditions of roads, bridges, highways, and miles of track.
Considering the issues from such a high level can be intimidating, but it can help save us from the crucial errors that come from thinking too small. Consider congestion pricing. While this will likely decrease the number of people driving from Westchester County into the city, many may respond by driving to a nearby commuter rail station to park and take the train. But are there enough parking lots to accommodate this? Will the trains be able to adequately serve this new influx of passengers? These are difficult questions, but asking them helps us not only to take a regional approach to urban infrastructure, but more effectively serve those who rely on transit every day.
Although it can be difficult to think big, when New Yorkers provide input as a collective, we can bring about a better, more thoughtfully formed infrastructure system. As the ultimate beneficiaries of such work, New Yorkers are also best-poised to address the failures of the systems they use every day. Comprehensively assessing our city's infrastructure problems will both require and encourage buy-in from our fellow New Yorkers. Community engagement must be iterative and ongoing in order to establish a culture of transparency and accountability that builds trust.
The most effective model for such engagement, and for general infrastructure evaluation, would follow a four-step process. First, the municipal authority provides the community with a detailed and clustered assessment of its infrastructure. Next, an "engagement meeting" provides the opportunity to present financials for each system of infrastructure and for the community to weigh in on priorities—frequency of use, quality of service, and potential sources of funding. Based on this feedback, the municipal authority then revises their assessment to include forward-looking recommendations. The report and plans for the future are then shared with the community at a final engagement meeting.
This iterative and transparent process may seem idealistic, but it relies on an urgent truth: infrastructure is a public good. And land value—commonly-owned, socially-created wealth—can be tapped to keep this public good alive and well. Henry George, the 19th century political economist, was one of the first to understand this. The value of New York City doesn't just live on Wall Street or on Broadway. The value of New York lives in the boroughs we occupy, in the places we live and work. When this land is improved, we all serve to benefit. But particularly those who are impacted most directly—people who can expect a new bus stop or live along the 2nd Ave Q. Rather than taxing New Yorkers (even those upstate) indiscriminately, we can frankly assess how improvements on the land improve our lives. This standard and process for infrastructure evaluation can help us to make long-overdue improvements a reality.
If we as a city can recognize how we stand to benefit, and our leaders can take seriously our input into the services that concretely impact our lives, we can bring about a more equitable, transparent, and effective infrastructure systems.
Marty Rowland is a trustee of the Henry George School of Economics and a Senior Fellow at the Asset Leadership Network.
The post Opinion: NYC Needs to Think Bigger—and Better—About Improving Infrastructure appeared first on City Limits.
Critical Voice for Ethnic Community Press Re-launches at City Limits News
City Limits by City Limits	- 2d ago
Absorbing Voices is part of City Limits' move to expand its existing portfolio of deep coverage of housing, transit, climate change, and elections.
NEW YORK, July 15 – Voices of New York, a unique news site dedicated to curating and promoting the best of ethnic and community journalism in the New York region, will become part of the award-winning news operation at City Limits.
Originally launched as Voices That Must Be Heard after the September 11 attacks left the Muslim community feeling invisible, a decade later the news site became Voices of New York and was published by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. It became a key element of the school's Center for Community and Ethnic Media that provides training and other support to community and ethnic news outlets.
Due to changing strategic priorities, the school ceased publishing Voices this spring. But City Limits, a non profit news agency, is picking up where the school left off. By this fall, new coverage as well as Voices archived stories will be available at citylimits.org/voices.
For more than 40 years City Limits has done deep coverage of issues facing New York, especially its most vulnerable communities. Its stories have been recognized with awards from the Deadline Club, New York Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, and Education Writers Association.
City Limits' publisher Fran Reilly said she is excited that Voices will be further broadening the news agency's reach. "Voices celebrates New York's incredible diversity while also bringing together communities separated by language and geography," Reilly added. "We look forward to making the best of ethnic and community reporting accessible to a larger audience."
Sarah Bartlett, dean of the Newmark J-School, said, "We are thrilled that City Limits has stepped up to help preserve Voices. It has been our privilege to sustain it for the last eight years, and housing it in a news organization with such a deep commitment to covering all of this city's communities is the best possible outcome."
In addition to absorbing Voices, City Limits is growing its portfolio with deep coverage of housing, transit, aging, climate change, and elections. It also has a new Spanish-language initiative, operates a paid internship program for young local journalists, and co-hosts a public-affairs radio show. And, City Limits recently launched a housing-policy newsletter and helped lead a collaborative effort to improve freedom of information practices in New York City.
"You know you're in New York when the newspaper rack at the deli has headlines in three or four languages you don't speak, and a community paper that covers a neighborhood you barely know," said Jarrett Murphy, the editor of City Limits. "This is a single city of many worlds, and City Limits is honored to help draw attention to the excellent reporters active in all of them."
The post Critical Voice for Ethnic Community Press Re-launches at City Limits News appeared first on City Limits.
ICE Raids Anticipated: Know Your Rights (Conoce Tus Derechos)
Cartel de tamaño completo aquí.
Full size poster
The New York Immigration Coalition is publicizing these hotlines ahead of an anticipated wave of federal immigration enforcement actions.
To report a raid:
Immigrant Defense Project: 212-725-6422 (leave a message and it will be returned; is being monitored this weekend)
For services:
ONA (outside NYC): 1-800-566-7636. Typical hours M-F 9-8; open this weekend Saturday/Sunday 9-5
ActionNYC (in NYC): 1-800-354-0365. Typical hours M-F 9-6; open this weekend Saturday/Sunday 9-5
Legal Aid: (NYC) 1-844-955-3425. Typical hours M-F 9-5; open this weekend Saturday/Sunday 9-5
New Sanctuary Coalition: 903-884-HELP/908-791-5309 open this weekend
Know Your Rights toolkits are available here in Arabic, Bengali.Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Kreyol, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Urdu and Yoruba.
Printable Know Your Rights cards are available in several languages here.
The post ICE Raids Anticipated: Know Your Rights (Conoce Tus Derechos) appeared first on City Limits.
Councilmember & Taxi Drivers Call for Bailout, Citing City's Role in Crisis
City Limits by Jeanmarie Evelly	- 4d ago
Mia Gindis
Taxi drivers and advocates rallied on the steps of City Hall Thursday calling for the city to help medallion owners who are struggling with debt.
With additional reporting by Anna Rhoads, Manoli Figetakis, Brandon Yam, Lakhsmi Chatterjee, Sadia Haque, Mia Gindis and Rainier Harris from the City Limits Accountability Reporting for Youth (CLARIFY) program.
Elected officials, cab drivers and industry advocates are calling on Mayor de Blasio to bail out debt-burdened taxi medallion owners, arguing the city itself played a role in the crisis when it auctioned off medallions at sky-high prices, despite signs that the industry was heading towards a decline.
Councilmember Mark Levine rallied on the steps of City Hall on Thursday with drivers and taxi advocates, demanding the city intervene more aggressively to help medallion owners, many of whom took out large loans to purchase the permits, only to have the value of their medallions plummet in recent years as competition from ride-hailing apps like Uber flooded the market. A New York Times investigation this spring found that industry leaders artificially inflated the value of medallions, with brokers and lenders convincing drivers to take out risky loans they ultimately could not afford.
But Levine and others say the city, too, profited from the industry's downfall by auctioning off hundreds of medallions in the last two decades at dramatically inflated prices. Such auctions were held as recently as 2014, when the minimum bid was $850,000, according to Levine. Medallions have recently been sold for as low as $138,000, Crain's New York reported.
"The city itself is culpable. The city itself profited from this bubble. The city itself pumped up this bubble," Levine said Thursday. "The city itself was asleep as thousands of drivers entered into a world of financial hell which is ruining their lives and those of their families."
Taxi medallion owners who attended Thursday's rally told stories of struggling to afford their hefty monthly mortgage payments and provide for their families, working long hours but earning meager profits.
"I have three children," said Vinod Malhotra, 54, who has been driving a taxi since 1993 and purchased his medallion in 2010. "I worry about them. It's very hard to break even. I have my rent, my mortgage, my loans, and other expenses. It's very hard for me to make a living. My kids, when they go to college—I cannot afford all that."
Another driver, Hakan Humusoglu, says he works long hours to stay afloat but is increasingly anxious about his financial future.
"We have to start from the middle of the night, like 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m.," Humusoglu told City Limits. "I can't sleep. I'm nervous, I'm angry and I don't see my future, and I don't see our drivers' future."
A number of taxi drivers have committed suicide in recent years, which many attribute to the industry's turmoil.
"They paved these streets with their blood, sweat and tears," said Bhairavi Desai, head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. "Whatever they are making on the meter is going straight to pay that loan, and vehicle, and insurance."
Levine is proposing that the city purchase taxi medallion owners' mortgages from their lenders, then refinance those loans on more favorable terms, serving as the new lender and offering payment plans that more accurately reflect drivers' financial realities. De Blasio has previously said such a bailout was not feasible, estimating it would cost the city billions of dollars, according to the Times— but Levine disputes that estimate. The mayor's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.
"We are not going to let up until the city pays this moral debt," the councilman said.
Mohammed Hoque, another medallion owner, says he immigrated from Bangladesh before purchasing his medallion in 2014, and is now struggling to stay afloat.
"I was a federal officer back there [Bangladesh] with a big dream, and now I am becoming beggar," he says.
The post Councilmember & Taxi Drivers Call for Bailout, Citing City's Role in Crisis appeared first on City Limits.
Housing Update: New Worries About Children in Lead-Tainted Apartments
City Limits by Harry Diprinzio	- 4d ago
Beyond My Ken
A view of the Dyckman Houses of the New York City Housing Authority, from the parking lot of the New Leaf restaurant in Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan.
Sign up for our Mapping the Future newsletter to receive housing updates—including the latest news, statistics, tools for tenants and homeowners and affordable-rental lotteries—in your inbox weekly. Here are some of the headlines from this week's update:
From City Limits
Not far from the site where Amazon would have established its New York HQ2, city planners and community members have been talking—thoughtfully, by most accounts—about a development project that could span decades and reshape western Queens. The Sunnyside Yards site is six-times the size of Hudson Yards and it could be developed into up to 24,000 housing units. The mega master plan is coming together, reports Shannon Ayala.
There are some similarities between the community and city's rezoning proposals for Bushwick, but the differences are important to Bushwick community members who say they have waited for decades for serious public investments in their neighborhood. Sadef Kully takes a side-by-side look at how the two plans to govern the development in the rapidly-changing neighborhood stack up.
Bushwick is changing, rapidly, and not necessarily for the better. Take just one statistic: the share of apartments on the market that are affordable to households with incomes at 80 percent of the Area Median Income feel from 65.2 percent to 45.5 percent from 2009 to 2017. Jarrett Murphy looks at the changing elements of Bushwick and what a major rezoning adds to the mix.
From Around the City
Children living in lead-tainted apartments were left to stay in them, even after the city discovered conclusive evidence of the lead, the Post reports. Following the report, the mayor pledged to have the conditions in the apartments reexamined.
NYCHA is expanding its office hours at 300 locations throughout the city, NY1 reports. The housing authority's customer contact centers will stay open until 7:30 pm on Every Wednesday until August. The centers are normally open until 5:30 pm.
Can landlords still find ways to jack up regulated rents under the new laws? The short answer is: not very easily. Gothamist looks in to five ways landlords might raise the rents on regulated tenants.
Foreclosures rose in Brooklyn, even while they dropped in other parts of the city, Bklyner reports. So far in 2019, 242 residential properties have been foreclosed on in in Brooklyn.
The post Housing Update: New Worries About Children in Lead-Tainted Apartments appeared first on City Limits.
Bushwick Tenants Sue to Force City Takeover of 'Reprehensible' Building
City Limits by Sadef Ali Kully	- 5d ago
mobilization for justice
Tenants and their allies gather in front of 299 Troutman Street in Bushwick.
Five Bushwick tenants filed a lawsuit Thursday morning against the landlord and other parties connected to a multi-family building, demanding emergency repair services and for the city take control of the site after a decade of "negligence" by the various owners.
The building at 299 Troutman Street has eight units with only four units being utilized while the other four units sit burned and empty on the third and fourth floors after a 2008 fire, according to the Ariana Marmora, senior staff attorney and community outreach specialist for Mobilization for Justice, Inc., a legal services group that is representing the tenants.
According to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the repairs needed in the building are so extensive that they issued an "order to repair/vacate" order to the property after a recent inspection.
The repairs list is long, totalling 107 open housing-code violations, including a lack of significant repairs since the fire, complaints of no heat or hot water in the entire building, heavy water flow from ceiling/walls and cracked ceilings to failure to inspect the boiler, according to city records. The building is listed as owned by Xing Liang Shen and managed by Capital Home Realty Inc., according to HPD records.
"We are here to let the landlords know that we will see them in court," said Marmora during a Wednesday morning press conference. "We are going to use every law we have aggressively. These tenants should not be living in uninhabitable conditions."
Assemblymember Maritza Davila, Community Board 4 chair Robert Comacho and District Manager Celestina Leon joined the press conference outside of 299 Troutman Street with the tenants to show support for their lawsuit. Davila said the building's condition was reprehensible.
The lawsuit names several groups, from current owners Shen and his wife Irene Zhang Xing, to several past owners as well as the Bank of New York Mellon, Home Heating Oil Corp, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), the city's Environmental Control Board and HPD.
Marmora said that the property's deed has had liens against it which has complicated the case even further, which is why her group has brought the lawsuit against present and most recent owners. But she said the case was rare because the owner was not shielded by a limited liability company or LLC. Marmora said despite the city being named in the lawsuit, all three city agencies were actively working with tenants and Mobilization for Justice to help bring repair services as quickly as possible.
The lawsuit is asking for a judgment authorizing the city to take over the property: collecting rent and making the necessary repairs authorized by the court. The city would have the authority to file a lien against the property for the cost of the work. Tenants also are seeking an injunction against the property owner, a fine between $1,000 to $10,000 for each unit, compensatory damages of $1,000 for each tenant and reimbursement for attorney's fees and costs.
On Thursday in the Brooklyn civil court, the property owner arrived without an attorney and no Mandarin interpreter was present so the case was adjourned until August 12.
The post Bushwick Tenants Sue to Force City Takeover of 'Reprehensible' Building appeared first on City Limits.
Opinion: Decarcerating NYC Starts With Building Smaller Jails
The Rikers Island jail complex is notorious worldwide for its pervasive cycles of violence and abuse among those incarcerated, staff, volunteers and visitors — the causes of which are numerous and intractable. These subhuman conditions are further reflected by the rapidly deteriorating structure and lack of basic services which are continually perpetuated by the physical isolation of the facilities. This separation only serves to create barriers between incarcerated people and the support systems they require to successfully navigate and surmount the justice system.
For these reasons, the city has rightfully committed to closing Rikers once and for all. We all dream of a world in which jails do not exist, but we must also be realistic and intentional about the need for new facilities and their placement within the five boroughs. Because of our continued efforts to decarcerate, New York City is now a national leader on alternatives to jail and reducing incarceration rates. Additionally, new laws in Albany on bail, discovery, and speedy trial will continue to reduce the number of pretrial detainees by at least 2,900 people. But this is not enough to bring us to a population of zero. And while we continue to fight battles to decrease the jail population, Rikers Island must be closed immediately.
There are advocates who are staunchly opposed to building new facilities. While these advocates and I share many of the same values and goals, there is only one realistic and truly just pathway forward — the building of borough-based jails. The notion that 'if we build more beds they will be filled' blatantly ignores that the current facilities on Rikers Island have a far greater capacity than all of the borough-based designs combined. We cannot afford to wait. Every day Rikers Island continues to operate is a stain on the collective conscience of our city.
With the closing of Rikers, we now have the opportunity to build facilities that can, by design, not only eliminate the need for incarceration entirely, but in the interim, serve as an incentive to keep jail populations at historic lows. Borough-based facilities is our best pathway forward because they reflect our values and offer the most holistic reforms to our criminal justice system in New York City.
The physical design of these facilities is critical to accomplishing this goal. Just as the physical structure of Rikers has contributed to more violence, intentional design features can instead honor dignity, increase rehabilitation and ultimately improve public safety. There must be a prioritization of designing spaces that can support robust programming and services, such as counseling groups, education and vocational programming, family meetings, recreation, and spiritual guidance. This includes creating spaces for medical, mental health, and dependency treatment including prenatal and maternity care and gender-affirming treatment for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
These facilities should also be trauma-informed and have the least restrictive conditions possible. There is a strong body of research connecting one's physical environment to their emotional and psychological well-being, mood and behavior. Access to natural light, outdoor areas and ample communal spaces are key components of this practice and would further serve to enhance the success of these new facilities.
The designs should also be created with gender-responsive principles in mind. Rikers was designed for men and as evidenced by current practices, one size does not fit all. It is essential to create living spaces that are separate, private and clean and consider the needs of specific populations. For example, the women's facility should have an on-site nursery with a minimum of 16 beds so women can remain and bond with their newborns, as well as spaces where older children can stay overnight. Not only does this design allow for better experiences, but it also reinforces positive outcomes such as maintaining family relationships, which ultimately strengthens communities.
We must continue to push for better and more alternatives to incarceration, decriminalization of low-level offenses, eliminating jail for technical violations of parole among a range of needed reforms. However, at this moment, the strongest measure we can take to decarcerate New York City is to close Rikers Island and build smaller, safer, borough-based facilities.
Vivian Nixon is the Executive Director of College & Community Fellowship, a non-profit that partners with women with criminal convictions to help them earn their college degrees so that they, their families, and their communities can thrive. You can follow her on Twitter @Vivian_Nixon_WW
The post Opinion: Decarcerating NYC Starts With Building Smaller Jails appeared first on City Limits.


Born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. Chris seeks to interpret the complexity of the human experience while revealing her fundamental desire to explore color and whitespace. Her work is mostly large scale mixed media paintings, and her tools include custom-made knives and large-format brushes. Chris' paintings have been exhibited in both group and solo shows, and reside in several public and many private collections. She is represented by five galleries on the East Coast. Last year, Chris was awarded Best in Show for her work Deliberate Passage during the NVFAA's Anthenaeum Invitational in which nine artists were invited to exhibit. In 2014, Chris was inducted into the National Association of Women Artists.
"My process begins as an intuitive dance with the paint. I let the first strokes and splatters take me where they will, a kind of organic expression which I coax with water and dry brushes. In the early layers, I bond with the color while I distill my thoughts down to the most minimal composition. I paint in reaction to the human experience, and I am inspired to repel and quiet the chaos of life with marks that are bold but simple.
Using a variety of media, I come to terms with the elements of the work and attempt to identify and preserve its soul. My paintings ultimately are about everything, and nothing, all at the same time. If I can engage my audience to discover the mystery held in the white spaces, then my work is complete."


This 2014 VW Passat is fully Loaded, in Excellent Condition and Runs Perfect. And this vehicle qualifies for QUICK APPROVAL FLEXIBLE FINANCING with takes the stress out of buying a car !!Stop by Coliseum Motor Cars and check us out today Today.


Season 26 results & Season 27 starts Tue 9th Dec!
It was a very tight race between all players this season, apart from Matthew Green, who dominated the Pro League season, having made the switch from Free to Pro at the start of the season!
Season 27 starts this week!
The first events for Season 27 are this week, starting at Beaumaris Sports Association on Tuesday 9th December and Woodvale Tavern on Thursday 11th December. Tuesday 16th December and Thursday 18th December will be the final two tournaments for the year, and we're back on Tuesday 6th & 8th January to continue Season 27!
Now's the time to make sure you've qualified for the finals events on the ladders!
$100 Pro event Registration opens 11am for a 12 noon start.
Free event Registration opens 11am for a 12 noon start.
We're always trying to improve - Thanks to those who helped shape these changes to Season 27.
3 Seasons per year instead of 2. Season 27 will end in April, Season 28 in August, and Season 29 in December.
Thanks for your support this season, we look forward to another exciting Season for Season 27!


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Anakin Skywalker - POTF2 [FB/CT] - Basic
Name: Anakin Skywalker
Collection: The Power Of The Force "2" [FlashBack/CommTech]
Number: N/A
Source: Expanded Universe (Hasbro Concept)
Availability: March 1999
A long time ago....
A new Star Wars movie will premier in movie theaters next Summer. It is Episode I of the Star Wars saga and the first movie in a new trilogy that goes back in time a full generation to tell the story of Luke Skywalker's father Anakin. We will see how Anakin became a great Jedi Knight but then turned to the dark side to become Darth Vader.
As a youth, Anakin Skywalker was brought before the Jedi Council as a candidate for Jedi training. With some dissension, the Council voted to allow Anakin to become the apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and over time Anakin became a powerful Jedi. The Council's concerns, however, proved to be well founded. The dark side soon overwhelmed Anakin and changed him, creating Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Vader faithfully served at Emperor Palpatine's side, leading the Imperial efforts to crush the Rebellion. He was even ready, if necessary, to take the life of his own son, Luke Skywalker. But in the final confrontation between father and son, Luke's pleas finally awakened the good buried deep within Darth Vader.
It's not secret that Star Wars collectors want a 1:1 ratio of vintage Kenner figures to modern counterparts. But sadly the modern updates don't come quickly enough for the rabid collectors who want them. So when the announcement of Anakin Skywalker became public that he would become part of the FlashBack line, collectors rejoiced. Or did they? Technically, Anakin Skywalker is not the figure most of us expected it would be. Don't misunderstand us please. It possesses a great likeness and pretty average sculpt, but this version of Anakin Skywalker doesn't exist; at least not in this outfit. It's true that we all witness the ghost of Anakin Skywalker wearing a very similar outfit, but the obvious difference is that he was a ghost in those scenes. He wasn't an aged Obi-Wan Kenobi lookalike in the flesh like this action figure portrays. So this at best must be considered an Expanded Universe "what if" interpretation of Anakin Skywalker. As of the figures release, we don't know what Anakin Skywalker even does outside of the black iron lung. So this particular action figure release creates a huge conundrum.
Some hardcore vintage collectors have adamantly denied that the 1985 The Power Of The Force Anakin Skywalker was a ghost version of the character. But he was. Even the packaging artwork clearly illustrates the proof. So it's actually the Anakin Skywalker figure from the 1999 POTF2 [Flashback/Commtech] Jedi Spirits Cinema Scene that is the modern update to the 1985 release. It's not this figure. Still, it's pretty cool to get an action figure based on the likeness of Sebastian Shaw full of hair and normal Jedi robes, correct or not, in the basic figure line. Anakin Skywalker will be a popular action figure regardless on where you stand with regards to his accuracy. Collecting one-off figures like this that are either "just off-screen" or from some Star Wars fictional lore, it is nonetheless fun to collect these types of Star Wars figures. What surprises us the most however is that the topic of the inaccuracy of this figure doesn't come up nearly as much as we had expected. Basically it's enough of an assertion to say that "yeah, this isn't really Force ghost Anakin but it's still OK." That is a bit perplexing, especially since we do have a true Force ghost Anakin Skywalker which fits the bill nicely.
Anakin Skywalker is as basic of an action figure as you could find. He comes with six points of articulation and a lot of his movement is encumbered by this molded robes. His hands are chubby and he strangely comes with Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber, thus making him even less screen accurate than he already is. The outer robe shell is removable, but because the arms are colored brown (to make the shell for a seamless look) he looks silly when you take it off of him. The head sculpt is decent. But the paint operations aren't completely perfect. We have found various samples with a strange paint job on his belt buckle, and many more samples have choppy eyebrows. Does it look like a younger version of Sebastian Shaw? Yes and no. The portrait looks too animated and from certain angles he appears very cherubic. But the streaks in his gray hair help to reinforce that he is a man well into his golden years. Part of a small wave of only three new figures, Anakin Skywalker was a very quick seller. So were the other figures in the assortment. He may not be perfect, but we think the bigger issue is that he is a figure that just doesn't represent a modern replacement to the 1985 vintage Kenner Anakin Skywalker figure. We'd like to see an updated figure that meets this criteria.
Status: Anakin Skywalker is an all-new figure.
Articulation Count: 6 points (6 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: swivel head (1), swivel left shoulder (1), swivel right shoulder (1), swivel waist (1), swivel left hip (1), swivel right hip (1)
Accessory Details: Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber, removable cloak shell
The Power Of The Force "2" [FlashBack/CommTech]
Category: Power Of The Force "2" [FlashBack/CommTech], The

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There is a correlation between the obverse designs and the case diameter.
Interestingly the patent drawing for this lock does not match any of the known locks.
Japanese Pattern - Obverse 3 - Reverse 8 - Iron - 2". 2 3/4" high x 2" wide. Iron case. Iron shackle. Barrel key. Black enamel background finish. The black enamel background finish does not appear in the R&E catalogs. The R&E Co. trademark is not cast on the obverse of the case above the keyway. There is a void on the reverse of the case at 6 o'clock where the production/date code normally is. Mfg by: Not determined.


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Neurology > General Neurology
Vending Machine Narcotics; Delayed Carbon Monoxide Symptoms; Vitamin E and Neuropathy
— News and commentary from the world of neurology and neuroscience
by Judy George, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today January 30, 2018
To reduce dependency on street drugs cut with fentanyl, the British Columbia Center for Disease Control plans to install armored vending machines that dispense hydromorphone (Dilaudid) pills for people at high risk of opioid overdose. Fentanyl was detected in 83% of overdose deaths in the province last year. (Washington Post)
Acute brain lesions were associated with the development of delayed neurological sequelae in patients who experienced carbon monoxide poisoning. Imaging during the acute phase of poisoning may help identify patients at risk. (JAMA Neurology)
A surprise disclosure revealed that the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on Solid Biosciences' gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which dropped the price of the company's IPO. The safety of its gene therapy may be why James Wilson, MD, resigned recently from Solid's scientific advisory board. (Barron's)
No TOMMORROW for Takeda: Its phase III TOMMORROW trial of the diabetes drug pioglitazone (Actos) for Alzheimer's disease stopped after a futility analysis showed an inadequate treatment effect. Meanwhile, Biogen has added to its pipeline Karyopharm's KPT-350, which may help treat conditions like ALS by crossing the blood-brain barrier more readily than other SINE compounds. (Fierce Biotech)
Amgen and Novartis announced positive results from their phase IIIb LIBERTY study of the calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitor erenumab (Aimovig) in patients with episodic migraine who experienced previous preventive treatment failures. (Endpoints News)
Injury to mitochondria by oligomeric amyloid beta (OAβ ) triggers a cascade of events that occur early in Alzheimer's disease and may offer a promising therapeutic target. "Pretreatment with a novel CoQ10 analogue protects neuronal mitochondria from OAβ-induced mitochondrial changes," researchers wrote in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
The Vitamin E in Neuroprotection Study (VENUS) concluded that supplementation with 400 mg/day oral mixed tocotrienols for 1 year did not improve overall diabetic peripheral neuropathy symptoms. (JAMA Neurology)
Fans of Neil Diamond donated refunded concert ticket money to Parkinson's research. Diamond canceled concerts after announcing he had Parkinson's disease. (Rolling Stone)
Baseline high frequency oscillation rates and amplitudes vary significantly in different brain structures and between homologous structures in the left and right hemispheres; this is important when evaluating patients who have drug-resistant epilepsy for surgery. (Neurology)
Flushing senescent cells in the brain may inhibit the effects of sporadic Parkinson's and other chronic neurodegenerative diseases. "Our data suggest that exposure to certain environmental toxins promotes accumulation of senescent cells in the aging brain, which can contribute to dopaminergic neurodegeneration," researchers wrote, adding that therapies that target senescent or "zombie" cells may constitute a strategy for treating sporadic Parkinson's. (Cell Reports)


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Stockton California
Strolling the grounds of the Wat Dhammararam Cambodian Buddhist Temple, which features more than 90 hand-carved statues
Relaxing on the city's waterfront
A rocking performance during the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival
Taking a closer look at the artwork in the Haggin Museum
Sunset over the region's delta waterways
Posing with a mural celebrating the city's music and culture
Family fun during a u-pick experience at a local farm
Sunset view of the city's downtown waterfront
A colorful sunset over the Banner Island Ballpark
Strolling the picture-perfect University of the Pacific campus
Stockton (SCK)
Sacramento (SMF)
Alive with museums, festivals and events
Centrally located in northern California's Central Valley, Stockton is California's 13th-largest city and the county seat for San Joaquin County. The city's dynamic, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural population numbers about 300,000. Stockton is situated along the San Joaquin Delta waterway, which connects to San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Home to California's most inland seaport, Stockton is just 83 miles east of San Francisco and 45 miles south of Sacramento, California's capital.
Surrounded by rich agriculture and the award-winning Lodi wine appellation, Stockton is home to year-round farmers' markets, fruit stands and nearby wine tasting. Home to dozens of multi-cultural, family-friendly festivals year-round, the city is famous for the Stockton Asparagus Festival, held for the past three decades during the last weekend in April. Pair all of that with great dining and shopping, and you've got a fun weekend!
Top 5 Must-See Attractions
1. The Haggin Museum – The museum houses the finest collection of European art in the Central Valley, as well as abundant local history exhibits. Called "one of the unsung gems of California" by Sunset magazine, its art collection features works by noted 19th-century painters such as Albert Bierstadt, Rosa Bonheur and William-Adolphe Bouguereau, as well as many other American and European artists.
2. Wat Dhammararam Cambodian Buddhist Temple – The temple is home to more than 50 hand-carved, bejeweled and painted statues that tower above visitors. The vibrant statues tell the story of Buddha and the Cambodian faith. The largest statue on the grounds is the reclining Buddha, which is more than 50 feet long.
3. Pixie Woods Children's Fairyland – A family favorite for decades, Pixie Woods is 1.2 hectares of fun for children that features a carousel, pirate ship, train and riverboat. Many themed play areas keep little ones busy for hours. The grounds are beautifully maintained, creating a whimsical, forest-like feel.
4. Downtown Stockton Waterfront – Leading to more than 1,600 kilometers of Delta waterways, the waterfront is home to many of Stockton's finest attractions—the Stockton Arena, Stockton "Banner Island" Ballpark and a full-service waterfront hotel on the shores of the Stockton Channel. The water is also home to the Stockton Marina and promenade, as well as the Weber Point Events Center, which hosts many of the city's popular events, including the Stockton Asparagus Festival.
5. Bob Hope (Fox) Theatre – One of only two public theaters in the world named after the late entertainer, the Bob Hope Theatre is a 2,042-seat historic Fox California theater built in 1930. Recently completely renovated, the Bob Hope is home to a refurbished Morton organ, which is played for groups and special events. Docent-led tours are available throughout the year, and the theater hosts concerts, comedians and world-class family entertainment acts.
Stockton's waterfront is the farthest inland port in California.
The Haggin Museum holds the world's largest public collection of work by J.C. Leyendecker of "Saturday Evening Post" fame.
The opening scenes of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" were filmed at the Faye Spanos Concert Hall at the University of the Pacific campus.
The Drive for Quality in Livermore Valley
The Tri-Valley in California: Where to Eat, Drink & Shop
Tapping Into San Francisco's Tri-Valley Beer Trail
Sacramento, California: The Riches of the Past and Present
Sacramento: From the City to the Great Outdoors
The Winchester Mystery House
Tuolumne, California: Unique Explorations in Yosemite Gold Country
Alcatraz Cruises: Explore San Francisco, California's Notorious Island Penitentiary
Venue Guide: 10 Incredible Places to See Your Favorite Artists
Northern California Luxury: From San Francisco to Wine Country
The Iconic, Picture-Perfect Sights of San Francisco, California
5 Offbeat Events That Reveal the Spirit of U.S. Destinations
10 Reasons Foodies Love San Francisco, California
3 Days in San Francisco, California
Highway 1 Ultimate Food Road Trip: Cruise and Dine the California Coast
San Francisco, California: Your 4-Day Feast of Food and Culture
8 Bike-Friendly Cities in the USA
San Francisco, California: Fresh Takes on Exploring a City of Icons
Celebrate a Golden Age of the Golden Gate Bridge
United States of Sports: Danny Barrett in San Francisco
See San Francisco, California, Through the Eyes of Kayakers Andy Cochrane and Roberto Gutierrez
Dazzling Scenery Awaits in San Francisco and Yosemite National Park
San Francisco, California: Sightseeing, Shopping and Dining in the City by the Bay
Arts, Culture and Science in Northern California
7 Luxurious Spas In California
Urban Excitement in San Francisco, California
City Tour - San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California: Outdoor Adventures in this Urban Gem
The Wave Organ
Hike, Bike and Zipline through the Redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains
Sip and Savor Your Way Through California's Napa Valley
StocktonCon
Select a month July August September October November December January February March April May June
Stockton Brew Fest
Stockton Pride Festival
Labor Day Stockton Community Pow Wow
St. Basil's Greek Festival
Stockton Arts Week
Stockton Lighted Boat Parade
Stockton Cambodian Buddhist Temple New Year Celebration
San Joaquin Asparagus Festival
Stockton Earth Day Festival
Feast at the Fox, a Farm to Table Dining Experience
Temple Israel Jewish Food Fair
Official Stockton Travel Site
visitstockton.org


Europe learned that speed, reliability, and comfort are essential for successful public transport systems, and Brazil is taking note. Photo by EMBARQ Brasil.
For those who live in or visit Brazil's cities, it is not hard to see the effects of increasing motorization and car usage on our urban centers. Too many cities have become crippled by bottlenecks and stifling traffic congestion. Increased purchasing power together with government incentives has created the enabling factors that will grow Brazil's motorization rate to 250 private vehicles per thousand inhabitants by 2020. Most major Brazilian cities already reached this rate in the early 2000s and are now approaching 350 vehicles per thousand inhabitants.
In Brazil, many still believe that widening roads and building flyovers will one day solve our congestion woes. Our European friends have already proved in the last century that this is not the sustainable solution, as an increase in road supply only induces a growth in demand for private cars. Instead, what did help European cities control traffic was the creation of integrated transport systems under the management of city transport authorities. By promoting the use of non-motorized transport and restricting the use of private cars, they began a growing movement of human-centered, livable cities. For instance, the early 1980s saw a resurgence of streetcars, which were virtually extinct in many European cities for half a century. Europe's new generation of streetcars allowed for greater speeds, reliability, and modern features typical of subway systems – like level boarding – that attracted people to mass transport.
In the 1990s, European cities began to incorporate bus system overhauls as a part of their transport improvements. Many cities also undertook a series of advertising campaigns to change the image of systems previously perceived as being irregular, slow, and uncomfortable. Among the improvements to physical stations were the deployment of dedicated tracks, real-time information at stations, and prioritization at intersections. In addition, many cities implemented the BHLS (buses with high levels of service) concept, which employ central operation control and information systems, providing integration between buses and other modes of transport as well as adding comforts like ergonomic seats, power outlets, cable TV, and free Wi-Fi. In many cases, BHLS doubled the ridership of previous bus services, even attracting car users.
Brazil has many challenges ahead to stop the advance of the automobile. The first steps are being taken, as many cities have implemented dedicated bus lanes that free buses from the congestion faced by private cars. The lessons from Europe are clear, and now we must work on multiple fronts to achieve high-quality, sustainable urban mobility.
This article originally appeared in Portuguese in the second edition of the Revista NTU Urbano. Translation by Rachel Jaffe and Ryan Schleeter.


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Disrupting Life's Messages /
Disrupting Life's Messages
A revolution in scientific understanding of the impacts of contamination on health is under way. As it unfolds, it is likely dramatically to alter our understanding of the consequences of pollutants for human well-being, and to require fundamental changes in how chemicals are regulated.
The revolution arises from scientific discoveries which establish that many chemicals -- both from the natural world and synthesized in laboratories -- interfere with the natural chemical messaging systems that direct the biological development of plants and animals, including humans.
Virtually all biological development is under the control of various 'chemical messaging systems' that convey instructions from the genes to their targets, thereby directing development. Hormones, neurotransmitters and growth factors, among others, are key elements of these message systems. Their successful transmission of genetic instructions is vital to normal healthy development, as they control almost if not every aspect of the process -- from what sex a baby will become to how many fingers it will have, to whether its brain is capable of intelligent reasoning or whether its immune system will be able to resist disease.
Science has now established that a wide array of chemicals can disrupt these genetically based messages without damaging the genes themselves. Much attention has focused on disruption of hormonal signalling, which has become known as endocrine disruption.
The roots of research in this arena go back to the 1930s, but it has burgeoned in the last ten years because of very significant investments of funds by European, Japanese and North American governments. New results are published virtually every week. These new findings are rich in detail, fascinating in what they reveal about biological mechanisms, and sometimes breathtaking in their implications.
For example, a study published in July 2001 by the United States Centers for Disease Control reported a strong relationship between DDT contamination in mothers and the likelihood of pre-term birth of their infants. Using biological samples stored since the 1960s, the authors report that their findings indicate that the United States experienced an epidemic of pre-term birth during the hey-day of DDT use, and that this persistent pollutant may have caused up to 15 per cent of infant mortality in America during that period.
Several important broad trends in the pattern of research findings can be identified from the thousands of studies on endocrine disruption published since the early 1990s.
First, the research confirms that contamination by hormonally active compounds is globally ubiquitous. No one is unexposed, even in the womb. The same is true for most, if not all living organisms, especially those higher in ecological food chains and thus consuming foods in which the contaminants have become concentrated by bioaccumulation. Contamination is partly so widespread because of the global redistribution of pollutants transported through air and water. The inadvertent but pervasive inclusion of hormonally active compounds in consumer products -- such as many cosmetics and plastics -- also contributes.
Empirical confirmation Second, effects of exposure can be observed at levels dramatically lower than those thought relevant to health a decade ago. Scientists are measuring the endocrine-disruption impacts of contaminants like arsenic, dioxin and bisphenol A (a basic component of polycarbonate plastic) in the low parts-per-billion. This was unmeasurable two decades ago (scientific instruments simply were not that accurate) and highly controversial until recent review and empirical confirmation.
Third, the findings indicate that virtually all chemical messaging systems are vulnerable, in principle, to message disruption. Work in this area focused for decades on interference with oestrogen. As the focus has expanded to other hormones, one or more disrupting contaminants have been discovered for every system studied carefully, including the thyroid system (crucial for brain development), the retinoid system (involved in very basic control of development), and the glucocorticoids (important for metabolism and tumour suppression, among other things). In the summer of 2001, new results reinforced this trend dramatically, with a report that the ecological symbiosis between leguminaceous plants like beans and the bacteria responsible for nitrogen fixation is vulnerable to disruption by contaminants. This symbiosis, mediated by chemical communication between the plant and the bacteria, is a vital component of the global nitrogen cycle. Persistent bioaccumulative compounds should be eliminated from use even without demonstrating toxicological risk
Fourth, the health effects of concern have expanded dramatically beyond those of the traditional focus for toxicology. Laboratory studies unequivocally demonstrate effects on disease resistance, cognitive function and fertility resulting from low-level exposures.
These findings should be of deep concern to people, organizations and agencies focused on human economic development and equity. It is clear, for example, that background levels of contamination can make children less resistant to infectious agents. Further research in this area may force a radical reassessment of the toll of contamination, as this implies that many deaths and diseases would have been avoided had contaminants not reduced resistance.
Similarly, the research suggests that widespread exposure to neurologically active contaminants -- as might occur, for example, in agricultural areas in the developing world with intensive pesticide use -- may lead to community-wide erosion of cognitive abilities. In a world in which information is a key economic currency, this contamination burden could consign those affected to the economic margins forever.
Conceptual shifts These emerging trends are forcing toxicologists toward several conceptual shifts that will lead to fundamental changes in the ways that chemicals are managed. The most important of these involves a change in the way that toxicologists think about what is relevant to human health.
Traditional toxicology focuses on damage, such as cell death, mutations, cancer or genotoxicity. Message disruption can cause these, but the effects may also be of a very different, but equally important, nature. Most challenging to traditional toxicology, message disruption does not work by overwhelming the body's (or the cell's ) defences. It works by hijacking the developmental process, adding to or subtracting from the body's own control mechanisms at remarkably low levels of exposure. By subtly (or blatantly) altering the path of development, message disruption leads the victim to a different future. The difference may be small, as in the loss of a few IQ points, or it may be large, as in a completely dysfunctional immune system.
Toxicology has focused traditionally on the impact of high levels of exposure on small numbers of people. This new approach requires considering widespread, low-level exposures experienced by many people -- exposure levels that many had come to write-off as 'background' and, by implication, irrelevant.
Taken together, these new scientific findings add to growing pressure to change the basic rules of chemical regulation. Once again, we have been blind-sided. Our ability to synthesize chemicals got far ahead of our scientific understanding of their impacts.
Traditional risk assessment allowed them to be commercialized and distributed, causing pervasive contamination. Risk assessment's partner in developing protective standards, epidemiology, by definition works only after an epidemic. Even then, its tools are remarkably insensitive in studies of the effects of endocrine disruption, and strongly biased toward negative results even when there are real effects.
The answer, still imperfect, lies in implementing precautionary measures that impose far more stringent requirements on old and new products alike. As the Swedish Chemicals Policy Committee has recognized, certain attributes should be knock-out criteria. Persistent bioaccumulative compounds, for example should be eliminated from use even without demonstrating toxicological risk. Endocrine-disrupting materials should be removed from consumer products and their environmental release should be phased out. More generally, the demonstration of potentially harmful biological impacts in laboratory studies should reverse the burden of proof in developing regulations -- from one in which harm must be demonstrated before a product is withdrawn, to an approach where safety is ensured beyond reasonable doubt before widespread deployment is allowed. These steps will help ensure that the benefits we all enjoy from modern chemistry do not come back to haunt us
Dr. John Peterson Myers, co-author of Our Stolen Future (Dutton, 1996), is Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation and Senior Fellow, Commonweal. This article is from UNEP's magazine for Environmentally Sustainable Development, Our Planet, Vol 12 No 4 (www.ourplanet.com), the United Nations Environment Programme.


text:
Zámek Lude () se nachází na západním břehu Loiry ve městě Le Lude v departementu Sarthe, region Pays de la Loire a patří k zámkům na Loiře. Vyznačuje se především rozmanitostí architektonických slohů od gotiky po klasicismus. První část stavby je od roku 1928 historickou památkou, ostatní části pak od roku 1992.

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy

Lude, zámek
Renesanční zámky ve Francii
Stavby v departementu Sarthe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The SCRM Roadmap – Part 1 of 5 – thinkJar, the blog!
I had to let some time go by between the latest definition controversy and this post so I could say that this is not about definitions. Those are done.
This is about how a business undertakes the road to becoming a social business while dealing with customers (fine, how does a business embrace SCRM).
In putting this together I tried different approaches. Tried to make it look like a roadmap, but there were not clear point-to-point directions to take as the assumption would be that all companies start from the same point – and we all know that is nowhere near the case. I tried to take it as a straight road with a set of rond-points for each sub-strategy, but that did not work either as the feeding roads into each rond-point were very complicated and not all organizations needed them all. I finally settled on a pyramid shape. I like pyramids because they build on the previous layer to grow. And that is the way to build your SCRM strategy: you have to have one layer set before you can move to the next one.
What is that? The chart is wrong? Well, I guess you could say that… but it is not. You do start crafting your SCRM strategy from the top and progress slowly towards the bottom. Yes, it sounds crazy – but just enough that it might work.
The inclination today for everybody who is trying to implement SCRM is to start with a — tool. Communities. Twitter. Blogs. Wikis. Let's deploy them, monitor and listen, see what we can gather and then we can decide whether it is for us or not. Guess what? you don't have that luxury. You have to embrace the social business model because your customers, your competitors, your partners – heck, your whole world is moving in that direction. Sure, you can try a channel or two and see what happens – but that is not going to get your an iota closer to understanding how your business becomes social as it relates to your clients. Remember the "twittable" definition Paul Greenberg set for Social CRM?
The company's response to the customer's control of the conversation.
You have to embrace becoming social, as it is your company's response to your customers becoming social. So, as long as you HAVE TO do it, might as well do it right – from the business perspective. Start from the functions that your business performs with customers, figure out the rules you are going to follow, determine the best channels for each, and finally figure out which communities to deploy on. If you have more questions than answers at this time, no worries – we will cover in painful detail each layer as we move along, and there are more posts coming (heck, it might even turn into an e-book later if I have the time).
OK, let's assume you have that under control (somewhat) and are already working on preparing the SCRM strategy. Now it comes time to deploy it in your organization. Where is the best place to put it? Glad you ask… that was last week's insomnia.
Since SCRM represents the response to your customer's control of the conversation, I am going to imagine that you want to get some value out of having those conversations. After all, the true value of SCRM is not listening or engaging, is ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS.
I will say that again, the ONLY value that deploying SCRM brings to your organization is actionable insights derived from the feedback your customers provide and actions you observe. So, how do you create actionable insights? You use the analytical tools that come with either Social Monitoring or Social Analytics tools, or you use the ones you already have deployed in your organization.
The first you will notice is that I am proposing that the organization internally and externally is basically the same; I am willing to be wrong there. If anyone out there from the E2.0 world wants to provide me a better setup for the internal operations, I'd be happy to take it. Until then, this works for the purpose of my theories (and I suspect I am not very far off). Feedback collected becomes actionable insight and the internal operations of the company (Enterprise 2.0) works on them to improve operations, prepare better products, take actions on what went wrong, etc. Those actions result in either a new or improved end-to-end process, which in turn is presented back to the customer (via the SCRM setup) as an experience.
We have come a full circle, we have tied all the loose ends and we can stop arguing about who is right and who it wrong. SCRM is an extension to CRM (as I have said all along), and Enterprise 2.0 connects with SCRM to take the internal operations of the Social Business to the customers.
Oh yeah, the entire setup (SCRM and Enterprise 2.0) is your social business strategy as we discussed last time.
There is a lot more to discuss here: more details in each layer, a better setup for Enterprise 2.0, the proper way to hand-off information in both directions between SCRM and Enterprise 2.0, etc. There are probably a gazillion holes you can poke in this model, I am sure, and areas where you can make it stronger. This is not finished anywhere but in my mind – sorta.
Poke away, tell me what I did wrong, what I assumed as proper and it was not, etc. Make it better. At the end, we all benefit from it. What do you think?
A welcome change here, a well articulated strategy to enable the strategy. I would love to disagree, but I can't. BUT (there is always a but), it is because through all the discussions and conversations few of us (I am as guilty, or more than you) specify what size organization, nor what industry. I have said on many occasions, this is not a 'one size fits all' problem.
It is my responsibility, not yours, to tear apart what you have written – again, not because it is wrong – to mold it, shape it, tweak it and use it along with other works to create the approach (2nd tier of strategy) that will work for my organization.
That is what collaboration is all about, thanks for getting me started!
.-= mitch lieberman´s last blog ..mjayliebs: RT @sugarclint: the components of a #scrm strategy? My take: 1) land grab, 2) participate & influence, 3) surround & overwhelm. #SugarCRM =-.
I totally agree on the size and industry comment. I don't think this is a final solution, but – as you say- a moldable solution. If we can turn strategy around from starting with the glass beads of technology, and make it start with the thinking side of business — well, what else can I ask for?
I'm with Mitch on welcoming a strategic view of SCRM and this is a good start. You've identified the basic elements here – and you're right in that most businesses will start SCRM from their existing points of customer contact.
One clarification I'd add to your content…the value of social media is listening and engaging — but the value of SCRM, the tool set, is actionable insights.
I think you're challenge with trying to make SCRM into a road map not only reflects the differing starting points for many companies but also the amorphous nature of the social media. However, reflecting pyramids are a reasonable place to start the strategic discussion.
I promise I will think about this more, but my first reaction is that Social Media brings not much that simple channels to the table. Of course, all those "social media gurus" out there will roast me alive for saying that. Either way, I see the SM channels as the second layer in my model and will cover them in more detail when I start working through them in the next few days. I will have done the thinking (heck, will probably think out loud while writing even) and cover your comment in more detail. It is probably my shortsightedness after many years of seeing channel after channel being added to CRM without increasing the value to the system.
You'll find me essentially saying the same thing in the final post of our Social CRM Manifesto series (written, but not due until next week).
Starting with a business function and then determining what metrics you will measure is essential. Adding the Business Process to help optimize those metrics and produce a repeatable result is also critical.
Heck, you'll even hear me say you need to get that stuff straight before choosing your software–heresy for a software vendor like Helpstream, but essential to success.
One other thought to consider on the metrics. They should be carefully layered. One can certainly write many posts just on metrics alone, but by layering, think of them as extending from measuring something very high level (customers per agent or customers per $ of customer service, for example) to something very low level (time spent on a call). If you focus too much on the low level metrics, you will overly polarize your strategy based on assumptions about how they affect the high level.
The high level are the real business results–the low level are just tactics. Too often organizations fixate on those tactics prematurely. Let them float until you really understand the causality. They may even go on a level below the base of your pyramid for that reason.
If not the low level metrics as the base, then certainly experience and continuous refinement go there as a feedback loop. You won't get it all right the first time through the pyramid.
Thanks for the compliments – but you just gave away half of my rules layer writeup 🙂 I think that the biggest problem we always had with CRM was that we just measured efficiency (how well the CRM system performed) while bypassing the concept of end-to-end results. It is not sufficient to know that a customer used a campaign, i want to know how well that campaign did overall, how much did it contribute to the bottom line, how many times that specific customer used campaigns, how much did it cost me to support that customer, what other offers were made, what was the response — on, and on. You get the idea.
If we are using these systems for business, then let's measure business. Number of followers don't tell me much unless i can determine the amount of money they bring me. Influence is an issues that i will address in future writings… very much one of the misunderstood topics we need to dig deeper into in 2010 and beyond.
I really think you did a great job defining a strategy (or is it tactics?) to get to a strategy. I of course especially like your quote: "the ONLY value that deploying SCRM brings to your organization is actionable insights derived from the feedback your customers provide and actions you observe".
It cannot be stressed enough that the entire purpose of Social CRM is to better understand Customer needs in such a way that you can better meet them through incremental improvements all the way to disruptive innovations.
Now you say this in (not so) many words, but I miss the outline of this purpose in your pyramid model. IMHO it is the purpose or strategic goals that should be provided, explained and put into context by the company leadership team, before entering into any of the phases or sub-strategies as you name them.
It is not enough to derive actionable insights without understanding what kind of insights you are looking for. Without the proper purpose and context you run the risk of having numerous actionable insights, collected by engaged employees, only to discover in the end that these insights will not bring you any closer to the break-through improvements or innovations your Customers desire..
.-= Wim Rampen´s last blog ..The Next Big Thing is not Social "XYZ" =-.
I like to think of it as a the framework to a strategy. I obviously cannot tell you what your strategy will look like (eventually), but can certainly help by providing a framework to think through it.
Outstanding framework. Simple,straight forward. As we have discussed, we need to move beyond the definitional discussion and help folks understand how to move forward. Steve Ballmer says publicly he believes every company on the planet will embrace social computing, but they need to know how.
I agree with many of the existing comments, so no need to elaborate. I do think that as companies progress along the design and implementation phases there will much to be learned in terms of not only metrics but best practices to achieve the desired results. This is greenfield territory in how best to execute strategy.
Nice job. I look forwward to more.
I agree with you and I would add that the best practices we learned from CRM and ERP and countless other enterprise apps still apply. However, the social aspects and the best practices for that side of the world are pretty much in the greenfield stage you mention. I am looking forward to writing a little bit of those myself once we get going. Step 2 (framework) is on its way, step 3 (implementations) is going to be a 2010 thing as I see it. Big time.
Excellent piece! I'm in complete agreement with Wim and Kathy that "the ONLY value that deploying SCRM brings to your organization is actionable insights derived from the feedback you customers provide and the actions you observe", and agree with Kathy that these are acheiveable through listening AND supporting.
I agree with you and Bob that metrics are important – you get what you measure – but I see a diconnect between the metrics of traditional CRM and Paul's definition the SCRM is "the company's response to the customers control of the conversation", so I'm confused by your response to Bob. Would love to see that clarified in later posts.
I agree with Wim that it is important to clearly understand the purpose and context of the actionable insights derived from customers to. I have fond memories of coming into an organization that cherry-picked the insights to follow (amongst overlapping and competing customer goals) and nearly brought the company down. Listening is not synonomous with understanding.
I will put a little bit here, but most of the meat is in the post for the Rules layer.
Metrics for SCRM are not like CRM in the sense that they don't monitor simply if the system is running, and how well (traditional metrics focus on the operations, not the effectiveness of the interaction). In addition, traditional metrics are not end-to-end: they just measure one instance of one interaction in one channel (usually) and don't carry through the organization (e.g. the customer was satisfied, but what was the cost of that satisfaction to me, or what was the repercussion in future purchases). Finally, when you throw in the infamous "return on engagement" metrics that people throw around for social media these days, how do you connect all that?
Correlation between metrics and KPIs is a very important part of SCRM. There is not a single, obvious way to say this or express it – but there are ways to look at your organization from a different perspective: effectiveness vs efficiency, end-to-end vs point-of-occurrence, and correlated vs stand-alone. if you blink you are going to think you are measuring the performance of the enterprise as a social business… and that is the idea. more on this on the post on rules (which should be tomorrow or Wednesday if the post gets too long).
This is a really helpfull article in making it clear that Social CRM is not a once off marketing initiative. It's a huge elephant that should be eaten on piece at a time.
I notice though that a Social Media Participation Policy does not get a direct mention. Do you assume one is in place or is it covered in a later part of the 5 part set of articles?
.-= Peter O'Brien´s last blog ..What's the bedrock to your Social CRM Strategy? =-.
Thanks for the good comment, and for spotting that. There is still a lot of ground to cover and the SM policies is part of the second (from the top) layer – the Rules layer. That would be part 3 – unless I end up breaking it into pieces and I won't know that until — tomorrow probably.
You said this in your next message, but the response and deeper explanation on the PP is on the next entry. As well as a lengthier explanation of how it is constituted in the comments section.


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Hollywood Bird Blunders
By Rene Ebersole
How to Tell a Raven From a Crow
Get to Know These 20 Common Birds
13 Fun Facts About Owls
Praying Mantis vs. Hummingbird
How to Tell a Hairy Woodpecker From a Downy Woodpecker
Bodies were piling up, and crime scene investigators were closing in on their killer. Soon another TV forensic mystery would be solved. But something was off: CSI had the wrong bird. A house wren—common dweller of woodlots and suburban backyards—was calling from the desert.
Despite paying meticulous attention to other details
that bring movies and TV shows to life, Hollywood is notorious for blundering when it comes to casting birds.
"In my experience, inaccuracy is the norm," says bird guide author and Audubon magazine field editor Kenn Kaufman. "It's typical and expected for films to have the wrong bird sounds in the background. Which is sort of bizarre when you consider how much birdsong lends to a sense of place. Even if you don't know what the birds are, you still might associate the sounds with the place if you've been there."
In fact, Tinsel Town has a long history of making bird mistakes, says Kaufmann. "In 1948, in his book Birds Over America, Roger Tory Peterson wrote about it. He pointed out that typical California birds could often be heard in the background in films that were supposedly set elsewhere. (He even joked about how Hollywood had extended the known range of some of those birds.)"
Here are some favorite examples from Kaufmann and fellow bird experts and movie fans, including bird guide author David Allen Sibley and National Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation Greg Butcher.
Kaufmann: "Crimes of the Heart. It was supposed to be set in the Deep South, but the soundtrack included a cacophony of birds found elsewhere: shorebirds on the tundra, sparrows of the northern prairies, etc. It stands out in my memory as the most diverse, and inaccurate, set of birds I've heard in any film.
"At the opposite extreme, the best/most accurate bird background sounds I've ever heard were in The Piano, directed by Jane Campion. It was set in New Zealand, and everything I heard in the background was in fact an expected New Zealand bird (many of which have very distinctive voices)."
David Allen Sibley: "One of my personal favorites is in one of the Indiana Jones movies. The opening scene in a steamy tropical jungle includes the sound of a displaying male Willow Ptarmigan [a bird of the Arctic tundra]. Another, like many other examples, was a movie set in the Colorado Rockies in winter that included Alder Flycatcher and Mourning Warbler singing, both extremely rare in Colorado at any season, absent from the US in winter, and I think the scene had them singing at night!"
Greg Butcher: "In Dances with Wolves, a bunch of doves is shown on the ground near Kevin Costner. One of them is a Ringed Turtle-Dove, which is basically a domestic version of an African dove. Definitely not something that would have been found in the Wild West 140 years ago."
Have you caught one of Hollywood's bird bloopers? Drop us a comment. We want to hear about it.